Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2007-08: Australia Win 2-1 — Brett Lee 24 Wickets Player of Series, Monkeygate at Sydney, India Win First-Ever Test at Perth

Australia won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2007-08 in Australia by 2-1. Tests: MCG, Melbourne (Australia won by 337 runs); SCG, Sydney (Australia won by 122 runs — the Monkeygate controversy involving Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds arose during this Test); WACA, Perth (India won by 72 runs — India's first-ever Test win at Perth); Adelaide Oval (Draw). Brett Lee took 24 wickets across the series as Player of the Series. Ricky Ponting captained Australia; Anil Kumble captained India.

Monkeygate at Sydney: The Harbhajan-Symonds Controversy That Nearly Ended the Tour

During the Sydney second Test — Australia winning by 122 runs — Harbhajan Singh was alleged to have racially abused Andrew Symonds during play, with on-field umpires and Australian players making formal complaints. Harbhajan was initially handed a three-Test ban by match referee Mike Procter. The BCCI responded by threatening to abandon the remainder of India's tour if the ban was upheld — creating the most significant cricketing diplomatic crisis between India and Australia since the 1970s. The ban was overturned on appeal, with the panel reducing the charge. The Sydney Test also drew criticism of the on-field decisions: twelve years later (in 2020), Ricky Ponting publicly acknowledged that India had received the rough end of umpiring decisions at Sydney. The controversy — labelled 'Monkeygate' by the media — overshadowed Australia's series win and generated an extended period of tension between the BCCI and Cricket Australia that reshaped how India's tour rights and player welfare were negotiated in subsequent years.

India Win at Perth: First-Ever Test Victory at the WACA

India winning the third Test at the WACA, Perth, by 72 runs — with Anil Kumble's bowling and a batting performance that restricted Australia in the fourth innings — gave India their first-ever Test win at Perth's famous fast-bouncing WACA surface, a ground that had been in operation as a Test venue since 1970 and had consistently produced results favouring Australia's pace-bowling attacks. India winning at the WACA — in conditions that generated extra bounce and lateral movement more suited to Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson (Australia's bowlers) than to Kumble and Harbhajan's spin — after losing Melbourne and Sydney by 337 and 122 runs gave the 2007-08 BGT its counterfactual: India winning in conditions theoretically most hostile to their bowling style while losing on the flatter pitches of Melbourne and Sydney. Brett Lee's 24 wickets across the series (Player of the Series) reflected how effectively Lee's pace attack had dominated India's batting at Melbourne and Sydney while the WACA win showed India's batters could also produce in the bouncy Perth conditions.

Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2007-08 in Context

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2007-08 — India touring Australia, January-February 2008 — is best known for the Monkeygate controversy (Harbhajan-Symonds, Sydney Test) rather than the series result, the diplomatic crisis it generated between the BCCI and Cricket Australia having longer-term consequences for how ICC governance weighted India's commercial interests in bilateral disputes. Brett Lee's 24 wickets (PoS), India's first Perth Test win (WACA), and Kumble's combative captaincy all sit within the Monkeygate shadow. Australia's 2-1 win — the third consecutive BGT in Australia won by the home team since the 2001 Eden Gardens reversal — was reversed in 2018-19 when India became the first Asian team to win a Test series in Australia. Ricky Ponting's captaincy of Australia to the 2007-08 BGT win was his last victorious home BGT series; India won the 2011-12 BGT in Australia 4-0.